Researchers are currently developing technologies, such as sensor nodes and terahertz networks to map rooms. The algorithms that are being developed include the assumption that these sensor nodes are stationary. Accordingly, only disturbances in the steady-state area are mapped. However, if prescribed motion of the sensor nodes were enabled and an area could be mapped relative to the plurality of moving sensors, then additional mapping intelligence could be provided. For example, the presence and/or movement of individuals in an area may be determined.
However, incorporating movement into a sensor node is challenging. There are currently robots and drones for numerous commercial applications such as package delivery, patient rehabilitation assistance, surveillance etc. In most cases these robots are large, complex systems with multiple joints and moving parts where numerous motors are connected through plugs, sockets, and cabling to one or more electronics control boxes. The large size and complexity of these systems limits their applicability to a network of devices moving and scanning an area.
Smaller motors that are surface mounted to a package may also be used. For example, various piezoelectrically actuated motors may be surface mounted to electronics packaging to provide movement. However, such piezoelectric motors are currently limited to being surface mounted due to the high temperature processing needed to form the piezoelectric material. High performance piezoelectric materials need to be annealed at temperatures (e.g., greater than 500° C.) in order to attain the proper crystal structure to provide the piezoelectric effect. Accordingly, the annealing process must be completed before mounting the piezoelectric motor to a microelectronics package since organic packaging substrates typically have much lower degradation temperatures (e.g., near or slightly above the 260° C. solder reflow temperatures). Furthermore, surface mounting the motors increases the overall size of the system, rendering it more difficult to deploy a plurality of them in each instance.